Ministry of SMEs and Startups Launches Workforce Development Project at 215 Specialized High Schools... Strengthening Industry-Academia Cooperation

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 19th that it has selected 215 schools to participate in this year's 'Specialized High School Workforce Training Project for SMEs' and will implement a corporate demand-tailored vocational education program.

The Ministry selected 209 continuing participating schools and 6 new participating schools through on-site evaluations, face-to-face evaluations, and deliberations by the Specialized High School Workforce Training Committee, targeting 215 schools that participated last year and 7 newly applied schools this year.

Participating schools can operate nine programs including employment-tailored classes, one team one company problem-solving projects, and development of teaching and learning materials. The government supports about 140 million KRW per school for the costs required to operate the workforce training programs.

Last year, by providing on-site customized vocational education, among 8,473 graduates of the employment-tailored classes, 5,416 were employed as of the end of February, achieving an employment rate of 63.9% (74.9% excluding 1,243 university entrants), showing significant results.

This year, to foster customized workforce training responding to regional industry and SME on-site workforce demand, digital transformation, and changes in industrial structure, the ministry plans to strengthen industry-academia cooperation education with specialized high schools, associations, and organizations.

Won Young-jun, Director of Technology Innovation Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, "We will further strengthen support policies for talent development through the employment-first, education-later approach so that specialized high school students can enhance their job competencies through vocational education in various fields, smoothly enter society, and grow into core personnel even after employment."

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